TalkTalk sees profits halved following cyberattack last year

UK telephone and broadband provider TalkTalk has seen its profits drop to £14 million, from £32 million the previous year, following a high profile attack last October, which cost the company £35 million.

"We have significantly increased our spending on security. We take this extremely seriously," TalkTalk CEO Dido Harding explained to the BBC.

About 157,000 of TalkTalk's 4 million customers had their details -- some including bank account details -- exposed in the attack.

TalkTalk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Two British teenage boys were arrested shortly after the attack, with the BBC reporting that six individuals -- all under the age of 21 -- have in total been arrested in connection with the incident.